Dinosaurs come roaring back

This sequel to the successful Jurassic World refresh of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is probably the best since the original.

But that comes with a few caveats.

The direction from acclaimed helmer JA Bayona (A Monster Calls and The Impossible) may be more refined, the story thought-provokingly deep, and production values of the highest quality – but it probably isn’t as fun and lacks the light-heartedness of the last outing.

There’s so much to enjoy here – from the thrilling opening scene to the ending sequences which deliciously sets up the third instalment in the ‘World’ Trilogy – but it can’t help but be tainted with ultimately being more of the same.

After the demise of the Jurassic World theme park on Isla Nublar – where the dinosaurs have roamed freely on the island for three years – an impending volcanic eruption threatens their very existence.

So Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) creates a dinosaur rescue organisation – with the aid of John Hammond’s former partner Benjamin Lockwood (LA Confidential’s James Cromwell) and his right hand man Eli Mills (Brit actor Rafe Spall) – to try and bring the creatures to a sanctuary in America with the aid of her on-off boyfriend Owen (Chris Pratt), who is enticed into the mission to save Blue, the last of the velociraptors he trained.

But alas, as soon as the duo arrive – with Claire’s two colleagues Zia (Daniella Pineda) and (quite annoying) Franklin (Justice Smith) – it soon becomes clear that everything is not what it seems, uncovering a conspiracy that could disrupt the natural order of the planet.

Which basically means that eleven species of dinosaurs are potentially being auctioned off to the highest bidder Stateside – via Ted Levine’s ruthless mercenary Ken Wheatley and his cronies who are attempting to get them off the island before volcano erupts.

And even Jeff Goldblum’s Dr Ian Malcolm pops in for a cameo to say: ‘Life has found a way’ for continuity purposes and all that – as this comes together to be a thoroughly watchable actioner with some impressive bite, and surprising depth.

Fallen Kingdom is undoubtedly a better all-round blockbuster than the first, but sadly some of the cast – like Pratt and Dallas Howard – seem to be going through the motions as this does rehash plenty of sequences we’ve seen before. Just in a different playground.

But it is still a damn sight better sequel than The Lost World was – and sets it up very nicely for the final instalment.